How to make flip flop cakes

Having a beach party or a summer birthday party? This flip flops cake is guaranteed to make everybody smile. And it's quick and easy to make, if you follow the instructions from baker and author Liv Hansen for Betty Crocker Kitchens.

Pre-tint three colors of frosting using food coloring. One color will be the all-over base color, the second will be the accent color and the third will a secondary accent color.

Slice off the top of the sheet cake, using a serrated knife, to make it flat.

Flip the cake over.

Cut the cake right down the middle (the long way).

Make a template with cardboard or paper to use as a stencil to cut out the shape of each flip flop on the cake. (Hint: Trace around a shoe to create the flip flop template. But, be sure to put the clean side on the cake, not the side that touched the shoe!)

Place the flip flop stencil on one half of the cake and use a small knife to cut it out. Repeat this for the other side of the cake.

Crumb coat both flip flop cakes. A crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting that goes over the whole cake and seals in the crumbs. Apply a thin layer of frosting to the top and sides of the cakes. Freeze the cake with the crumb coat for about 30 minutes.

Decorating the flip flop cake

Apply the final coat of frosting, starting on the sides of the cake. Put an accent color of frosting on the sides. Don't worry about the accent color smearing onto the top of the cake, as you will apply another layer of the base color to the top.

Frost the top of each flip flop cake with another layer of the base color frosting - about 1/4 inch. Spread the frosting right up to the edge of the cake. It doesn't have to be perfect; you will add an accent border, which will hide where the sides and the tops of the cake meet.

Use a large spatula to remove the two flip flop cakes from the baking tray, using your hand to support the cake as you move it to a platter.

LAURIE:Hi, I’m Laurie Gelman from howdini.com. If you’re going to be hosting a summer birthday party for a little girl, or planning any summer party, how about making this really great flip flop cake? Now, I know what you’re thinking. Who, me? But I’m here to tell you, yes, you. Or actually Liv Hansen for Betty Crocker Kitchens, is here to tell you, yes, you can do this. Hi, Liv, how are you?

LIV:Hi, Laurie.

LAURIE:I love the idea of a flip flop cake.

LIV:Oh, great. I’ll show you how to make it.

LAURIE:I would love to.

LIV:Okay. This is a regular sheet cake that I baked in a thirteen by nine inch pan. And I’ve also pre-mixed some colors. And the cake, you could use any cake you want, whatever the birthday girl’s favorite is. Okay. So we’re going to take the cake, and we’re basically going to slice off the top of it, just to make it flat. I’m using a serrated knife. Just a little bit.

LAURIE:Not too deep, right?

LIV:Nope. Just the top dome that forms when you bake it. Would you like a bite?

LAURIE:Can I eat that? Yeah, I was just going to say –

LIV:Sure.

LAURIE:Thanks.

LIV:Okay. So now I’m going to flip it over, so that the flat side is here. And now I’m going to cut it right down the middle.

LAURIE:So one of those cakes will do two flip flops?

LIV:Yes. Two flip flops.

LAURIE:Really?

LIV:Maybe a little pair. And, instead of just going ahead and cutting the shape of a flip flop out -- you know, you might mess up and then you’re going to have to bake another cake – I recommend making a template.

LAURIE:Okay.

LIV:Basically just place them down, and I’m going to use a small knife to cut it out. I have a little bit more control. And basically you’re just going to carve around it. So we’re going to do a crumb coat. Right on this inverted sheet pan.

LAURIE:Okay, what’scrumb coat?

LIV:A crumb coat is just a thin layer of frosting that seals in all of the crumbs. I’m just going to spread it on as thin as possible.

LAURIE:So that’ll be your all-over color. These are pink flip flops.

LIV:Mmhmm. Yep.

LAURIE:Got it.

LIV:And just around the sides, too. And that creates a little lip of frosting. And all you have to do to get rid of it, is just come in, sort of like a little airplane, landing and then taking off again. And scrape off that little lip of icing.

LAURIE:Oh, okay.

LIV:Okay, so I have one done.

LAURIE:That’s kind of an interesting looking knife you have there. What is that?

LIV:This is actually an offset spatula. There’s like a little bend in it. And it allows you to get into tight areas, like this right here, and frost it a little bit better.

LAURIE:But if you only make one cake a year, chances are you could use just a regular butterknife?

LIV:You could use a butterknife, mmhmm.

LAURIE:So I actually do have one that I’ve already crumb coated.

LIV:Okay.

LAURIE:And I’ve chilled it for about thirty minutes, and it’s ready to be iced. So we can start the decorating process if you want.

LIV:Let’s go. That looks like the most fun part.

LAURIE:Okay.

LIV:Thank you.

LAURIE:Oh, those look good.

LIV:Okay. So we’re ready for the final coat. Now what I do for these, is I actually start on the sides first. And I’ve made an accent color of purple, just to set it off a little bit from the top color. And –

LAURIE:These frosting colors are gorgeous!

LIV:Aren’t they fun? I’m frosting the sole of the flip flop in the purple, that’ll give it a nice accent color. And the top, we’ll do in pink. So I have it all covered, I’m going to go around one more time just to smooth it out a little bit.

LAURIE:One.

LIV:I’m going to go around and take off as much as the purple frosting as I can. Just by sliding my offset spatula towards the center.

LAURIE:You’re not worrying about wrecking the pink?

LIV:You don’t have to worry about being too neat on the top, because we’re going to frost some pink right on top. So I’m going to take a dollop, place it on. Now here also, you want to go up to the edge, but if it’s not a perfect as you want it to be, don’t worry because we’re going to do a little border –

LAURIE:Oh, okay.

LIV:To hide where the two colors meet.

LAURIE:How this is this layer?

LIV:This is a thin layer. This is a little less than a quarter inch. Just enough to cover the purple so that it doesn’t come through in this coat.

LAURIE:Okay.

So now I think we’re ready to start the decorating. So I have these large, you can use like a pancake spatula. I’m just going to put it right underneath, put my hand under it, and then just gently place it down.

LAURIE:So is there a trick to doing it?

LIV:Well, you just want to make sure that you get the spatula right underneath the cake and push it in as far as it’ll go. And you start to lift it a little bit, and then place your hand underneath, towards the back.

LAURIE:Okay.

LIV:And then, place it down, and again, just slide it out the same way that you pulled it in. And now we’re going to start the decorating.

So what we have here is some yellow frosting, and I’ve actually placed some in a pastry cone. And I’m just going to start piping. So basically, I’m just squeezing with consistent pressure but I’m moving the bag up and down to create that little zig-zag pattern.

LAURIE:You always do such a crisp end. Is there a trick to doing that?

LIV:Yeah, it’s called tailing off. And what you do, is as you’re squeezing, you release the pressure, and then you pull away. If you keep squeezing as you pull up, you’ll get a little tail.

LAURIE:Oh, okay.

LIV:So now we get to add some little candies, just as decoration. We have some fun candies here.

LAURIE:Okay.

LIV:Sort of match our color theme. And basically, you can stick them sort of one up, one down –

LIV:And I’ve cut them. I’ve sort of trimmed them into a little triangular shape at both end, and I’ve folded down about a quarter inch. And that’ll just give it a little stability. And then I put one end in here, and I wrap it around like that. You can do it on both sides.

LAURIE:And patterned fruit roll-ups hard to find?

LIV:No, you can find those at the grocery store. They’re pretty easy to find. And I’ll do both side.

LAURIE:So cool!

LIV:You can find solid colored ones, too. It doesn’t really matter what the color is, as long as it sort of matches the cake you’re doing.

Well, for the final touch, we can just take some silk flowers, and we can just press them right between the straps.

LAURIE:Pretty. The only inedible thing on this cake.

LIV:Yes. And there you go!

LAURIE:Look good enough to wear.

LIV:Yes.

LAURIE:And eat! Thanks, Liv. I can’t wait until I go to a beach party, so I can actually make this and bring it, and impress my friends! And if you’re going to do a beach party theme, its fun to have sandbuckets on the table and fill them will goodies. You can also use sunglasses, beach balls, and sea shells to decorate. And of course, this flip flop cake can be frosted in any color you like. You should really have fun with it. I’m Laurie Gelman for howdini.com

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meet theexpert

Liv Hansen Professional Baker and Author
Liv Hansen is the author of three books, has appeared on the Today Show, Top 5 (Food Network), The View and Roker on the Road, and was a finalist on the Food Network Challenge: Haunted Gingerbread.
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